


The Story of Us

by kitlee625



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 17:03:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3776470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlee625/pseuds/kitlee625
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us,</i>
  <br/>
  <i>How we met and the sparks flew instantly,</i>
  <br/>
  <i>People would say, "They're the lucky ones."</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Or four times Melinda May said yes, and one time she said no.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story of Us

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful beta reader, Sarahastro.
> 
> The title comes from the song, "The Story of Us" by Taylor Swift.

1.  
“Agent May? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

The man looks vaguely familiar, but she cannot remember just how. “Is this about the upcoming mission?” she guesses. “Because if you're here to brief us, you should come back when my partner is available too. He should be back in about an hour.”

“This isn’t about the mission.” He shifts from one foot to another and clears his throat. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

“Have we met before?”

He gives her an embarrassed smile. “I’m Andrew Garner. I was one of the scientists you rescued from the AIM facility.”

“Right. How are you?”

“Good. I just came by to thank you for saving my life.”

From the cubicle next to hers she can hear Clint Barton snicker, and she kicks the wall that separates them. “I was just doing my job.”

“Still, it was very impressive.” He smiles at her. “I thought if you’re not too busy saving the world, I could buy you a drink sometime.”

Clint’s snickers turn into full blown laughter. To his credit, Andrew ignores him completely, does not even blush. His eyes never leave her face.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Melinda says. “You’re a scientist. I’m a specialist.”

“I’m a S.H.I.E.L.D consultant. And I’m not asking you to marry me.” He smiles again, and this time she notices just how sexy he looks when he smiles. “Just one drink."

Against her better judgement she finds herself smiling. “Okay. But just one drink.”

 

2.

“So what’s going on with you guys?”

Melinda takes a sip of her beer. “What do you mean?” she asks innocently.

“You know what I mean,” Coulson says. “It’s not that I don’t like Andrew, but you brought him out tonight and to get drinks with our team last week. You’ve never done that before.”

“It’s not like what we’re doing is classified.”

Coulson raises his eyebrows at her. “Not the point. Has he met your mother?”

“No.” She sighs. “But she’s been asking. I don’t know how much longer I can put her off.”

He raises his eyebrows and smirks, and she wonders if he is remembering the first time he met her mother. “Good luck.”

“She’s not that bad,” she protests. “She likes you.”

“I don’t think that I’d go that far. She has some faith in my abilities not to get you killed when we’re in the field. But it’s not like she’s evaluating me as a potential son-in-law --”

She flushes bright red, and he knows that it is not just from the alcohol. “Phil!” She looks at the bathroom to make sure that Andrew did not overhear that. “That’s not funny.”

He looks surprised at her response and raises his hands in surrender. Before he can say anything else, Andrew comes back from the bathroom. “Do you guys want another round?” he asks.

Melinda looks up at him. “It’s getting late. Maybe we should call it a night and just go home.”

“Just one more?” Coulson asks. “I’m buying.” Melinda nods, and he slides out of the booth to go to the bar.

Andrew takes a seat next to Melinda and puts his arm around her shoulders. He nuzzles her neck and murmurs, “Thanks for inviting me to join you guys tonight.”

“Of course. I’m glad you could make it.”

“Me too. I missed you,” he says.

It is hard for her to admit even to herself just how much she had missed him while she was away on this op and how often she had thought about him. Her life is all about compartmentalization and maintaining boundaries, but for him she is willing to break everything down. She wants to let him into every part of her life, with S.H.I.E.L.D., with her friends, with her mother.

“I missed you too,” she admits, and then, having told him something that she has never told a lover before, she figures that she might as well add another confession. “I love you.”

She can feel his mouth smile against her cheek. “I love you too.”

 

3\. 

“Chicken or fish?”

Melinda shakes her head. “This is ridiculous.” They are sitting in their living room, surrounded by wedding paraphernalia -- information about place settings, menus, flower arrangements, dresses. “Whatever happened to the nice, simple wedding that we talked about?”

Andrew looks mournfully at their coffee table, which has been buried for months beneath an ever increasing pile. “Our mothers got involved. And that wedding planner that they hired to make things easier has done everything but that.” 

Melinda scowls. “I have to go dress shopping tomorrow with that woman.” Most women would love to go shopping for a frilly white wedding dress, but she is not most women. She would rather rescue hostages or cross off a terrorist any day.

“I thought you already did that.”

“That was just the first session. She has more dresses that she wants to show me tomorrow.”

Andrew rubs his fiance’s back. “It’s going to be okay,” he says. “The wedding is in a couple of months, and then this whole thing will be over.”

“No.”

The meaning of her statement takes a moment to sink in. He shakes his head. “Again?”

“I got new orders today. I’ll be leaving in two weeks for an op, and I’m not due back until after the wedding.”

“Melinda --”

“I know.” This is the third time that they have had to postpone their wedding because of her missions. “There’s nothing I can do.”

“I know.” He rubs his face, and she can tell that he is frustrated. “This is getting to be too much. Maybe we should just elope.”

She know that he is joking -- they’ve both joked about eloping since he proposed -- but this time instead of laughing it off she says, “Yes.”

He looks surprised. “Yes? Babe, I was kidding.”

“I’m not. There’s still two weeks before this assignment. I’ll take a few days off, and we can just do it.”

“My mother would kill us,” he says, “and so would yours.”

She gives him a mischievous smile. “I’ll protect you.”

Her smile is contagious. “Okay, he says, “but on one condition: not Vegas.”

 

4.

“Do you need something?”

Melinda shakes her head, and Andrew goes back to brushing his teeth. She does not move from where she is standing in the doorway of the bathroom, watching him with a little smile on her face. She has found herself doing this a lot lately, watching him while her mind wanders, each time winding up in the same place.

As she stands there, one hand moves to rest on her lower abdomen, at the moment flat but maybe not for much longer, watching Andrew and thinking about the child that they would make together. Andrew sees her watching him, and when he finishes brushing his teeth, he comes over to her.

“Mind telling me what’s had you so distracted since you came home?”

“I want to have a child,” she announces, giving voice to the thought that has been lingering in the back of her mind since she came home from her last op.

His face lights up, happy but not entirely surprised. “Are you sure?”

They have talked about having children before, and always she has been the one asking him to wait, to give her more time so that things in their lives are more settled before they add such a large variable. She steps towards him and winds her arms around his neck. “There’s never going to be the perfect time,” she says, “and I want to have a family with you.”

Any lingering doubt she might have disappears when she sees just how happy he looks to hear her say this. “Alright,” he says kissing her. “Then we’d better get to work.”

 

5.

“Melinda --?”

He does not have to finish that question for her to know what he wants to say. It is all the questions that have been hanging between them unsaid and unanswered for months. After she came back from Bahrain, he tried to be there for her, urging her to open up to him and driving her to counseling sessions every day for weeks. But none of it can change what she did or how she feels. So she remains shielded by silence, very much aware of the strain that this is putting on herself, Andrew, and their marriage, but unable to do anything about it until now. She may not be able to fix the problems in her life, but she can try to minimize the damage.

She rises from the couch and tosses her duffel bag over her shoulder. A part of her had wanted to do this while he was still at work, but she knows that she owes him this much. To look him in the eye as she ends their fledgling family.

Andrew looks confused. “But -- you’re not on field duty anymore. Melinda --”

“I have to leave,” she says simply.

She can see how shaken he is. He must have known that this was coming, but accepting it is an entirely different matter. To his credit, he does not argue or fight with her. “Do you have someplace to stay?”

“My mother’s.”

He nods and reaches for her bag. “Do you want me to --”

“I’ve got it.”

They stand awkwardly for another moment, and then she moves towards the front door. Andrew stops her one last time.

“Melinda. I love you.” She turns to face him, and hopefully he adds, “We can get through this together.”

“No. We can’t,” she says and walks out the door.


End file.
